Youngbowl with the old heads, Galeano, Guzman, Winkler and Alvarez

It is the mission of ThirpopMMA to record the development of Philly’s local MMA scene. In an effort to galvanize the remarkable transition that scene has made over the last two years, we begin an irregular series of video interviews with the people who are making, have made or will make Philadelphia and its periphery the east coast hub for MMA talent.  

The first installment is a bit rough due to my abhorrent video production growing pains but the subject matters in a big way. Javier Guzman is an 18 year old who has been training for a career in the sport since the age of four. We sat down for a long talk with Guzman to learn about a kid who - while still in high school - is training MMA full time and taking fights with grown men. This alone makes him a story but there is a larger justification for such an extensive interview. Guzman is an athlete who grew up dreaming of being an MMA fighter, not a baseball player or football star and whether he succeeds or not, his aspirations are the evolution of a sport that was little more then a novelty when Guzman himself was born. 

Photo courtesy of Eric Zippe

In the arms-race between the city’s major MMA promotions, Matrix Fights has dropped a bomb. Locked In The Cage  6 and 7 had elevated the local scene in terms of both quality of fight cards and crowd size. While Matrix’ current venue of choice - the hall of the Philadelphia Sheet Metal Workers’ Local maxes out at 1300+ people (which they easily sold out- people were turned away, and the room was virtually packed from the first amateur fight) this card deserved to outsell the Jack Dempsey fight in 1926.

 Match maker Andria Caplan provided a night with some notable ‘firsts’- most importantly the local scene’s first fight card without a cancelation. Her stacked card came in heavy at 18 fights so that by the time the program was printed and the typical flake-outs and injuries took their toll, 14 evenly matched bouts remained. With little filler, Matrix Fights keep the action moving from 8PM to midnight- basically the greatest deal in Philly since the Mafia stopped charging tourists to take pictures with the Rocky Statue.

Here’s the quick wrap-up, look out for more details to come.

The BJJ purple belt is eager to show his hands, so much so that here he admits to barely working his ground game in preparing for his LITC7 fight - last Friday night- against former super heavyweight Corey Mullis. It paid of as Zu obliterated Mullis on consecutive shots (check the post fight wrap for the full rundown) before allowing him to melt to the canvas. Had Anyanwu not been such a humanitarian, he had the power in his shots to keep Mullis elevated off the mat indefinitely.

The unifyer. Photo by Keith Millis, Sherdog.com

After being crowned Locked in the Cage and WMMAC 145-pound champ, Scott Heckman is on to the next one. In this case, that means dropping down to 135 pounds to challenge Zack Makovsky- a homegrown favorite out of the Philadelphia Fight Factory and current Bellator champ. 

The market swells

The National Guard Armory in Northeast Philly was packed with almost 2000 people for Locked in the Cage 7(LITC7) Friday night. This marks the second consecutive show to fill the enormous room (following LITC 6, which surged the local MMA scene forward with the biggest crowd to date- 2,280). Previous events hovered around 1200-1500 people, so for the LITC team to add consistency to their achievement is a huge success for them and for the local scene. 

The crowd also seemed to be of a particular variety. They showed up early — the place was filled by the third amateur fight — and stayed until the end. This may sound normal to the uninitiated but it isn’t. MMA shows have been surviving on the ability of individual fighters to sell tickets to their individual fans, this is evident as sections of the bleachers erupt for certain fights and clear out after the decision is read. This not being the case for LITC 7, and to a lesser extent LITC 6, shows that the fan base (read:financial base) of the local scene is broadening. In short, the mass market is being tapped.

And the show came off pretty smooth, the LITC team continues the push to match the quantity of their shows with quality of video and audio production and this was another crucial step in the right direction.

Here is the recap of the action, check back in at the end to be snapped out of this lovefest and into a pretty sobering take-away. 

Wiilliams with 302 BJJ team. Photo courtesy of Megan Lavelle

Each Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fight that goes down in Philly tells us a little something about if and how the local MMA scene is going to succeed. This website was created for that scene - to watch as it comes into focus. We recap the fights, bullshit with the players, ogle the smut along the way but the mission is to witness and chronicle the development of Philly’s local MMA scene, a mission that started at Citypaper’s The SportsComplex blog before the sport was sanctioned in February of 2009 and will continue on this current rickety platform as long as circumstance permits. 

For the most part the scene creeps along but occasionally progress comes with a massive shift. This brings us to Locked In The Cage 6 (LITC6) which took place Friday night at the Southhampton Armory in Northeast Philly. This was the biggest event to date for the local MMA scene and the implications are abundant. It is fitting that a galvanizing event for the sport should come from the LITC team. Fran Evans and Tara Galvin were responsible for the city’s first fights and have been extremely aggressive ever since. While they have hosted six fights, the other major promotion — Matrix Fights — has chosen to host only three events but with more refined presentation. LITC’s aggression may have cost some presentation points but now lands them in the prestigious position atop the city’s scene.

More should be said about job Evans and Galvin have done, and how significant this event was but, for now, we’ll just touch on the most important points and recap the action along the way. 

The most important indicator, a real game changer, was attendance, Evans cloaked it at 2,280 tickets sold, which is about level with my estimates. Even more important than the sheer numbers (easily the biggest local crowd to date) was the fact that the crowd showed up early and stayed late. The key goal for the scene’s sustainability is in reaching the precious peripheral audience and easing ticket-sale dependance from the current key demographic- friends and family of individual fighters. While still far from pulling substantial numbers of the Spike/ VS/ Pay Per View audience out from behind the TV, this fight card spread the burden between Fight Factory/ Balance/ Team Sitan and Semper Fi MMA with support from Daddis FC and Rocco MMA not to mention to die-hards who followed Duane Bastress from Lancaster. The synergy of combining this many individual gyms does more then draw two thousand people, it makes sure they leave talking about an ‘event’ instead of a particular fight. This will push those spectators from simply supporting their camps to supporting the larger scene. And, in time, word will reach the UFC fans looking to get a live show for less then the cost of a UFC Pay Per View event.

The old logo didn't have the 'x-treme' appeal

South Philly’s famed Arena has become the Asylum Arena. Because of disputes over what we must assume are trivial matters (in the burgeoning Philly MMA world, all matters are pretty much still trivial at this point) the Arena/ Matrix Fights relationship has been suspended and the Arena has made what looks to be a pretty permanent move to align with Asylum, a promotion better known in NJ.

Well, tie goes to the runner and we commend Asylum for putting fights on the table but it must be stated that this card was anorexic. Five amateurs fights and one pro fight lured out about 125 people to the venue to experience the Philly MMA scene. Athletic Commission Executive Director Greg Sirb expressed understanding at the loss of a couple of fights within the last 24 hours but admitted this type of card is not something that should be repeated. 

Sky is the limit for Anyanwu

Matrix Fights III went down last Friday night, and demonstrated exactly how and why the local scene should and could stay around. It was an important statement to make with the shadow of Bellator 33 still over the city. In their new home — hall of the Philadelphia Sheet Metal Workers’ Local — the Matrix Fights’ team seems comfortable, it is spacious, well light and centrally located. I have discussed before the pros and cons of holding fights in a hall and have stated firmly that the ideal location is a more traditional fight venue, if for no other reason then it adds credibility and reminds spectators — attending and potential — that these are legit professional fights between athletes who train full time to measure their skill and gameness. Realization of this fact is what brings out the best in fans and helps elevate the perception of the sport to where it deserves to be. 

Having said that, this scene is in its incumbency and in desperate need of cards like this one. So anywhere they can erect a cage, they should. Put this fight on in a North Philly alleyway and I am there to see it, even if my press credentials don’t get me the spot next to the burning trashcan.

Rosario is a finisher

Matrix Fights III goes down tonight. On the heels of last week’s scene-shifting Bellator 33, this fight is important for a few reasons. Number one, best outlined in last weeks Inquirer article, the success of these types of fights will make or break the scene. Also it has legit match-ups, most notably, Julio Rosario v Brylan Vanartsdalen and Azunna Anyanwu’s pro debut. Lastly, Matrix promoter Jimmy Binns has gained something of a track record for giving the spectator his and her money’s worth. 

The commi v the fade

In the Philadelphia mixed martial arts (MMA) scene’s quiet revolution Bellator Fighting Championships (BFC) 33 might be remembered as the shot heard round the region. Thursday night, North Philly’s Liacoures Center was just under 75 percent full (of the available seats/ still waiting on official numbers from BFC) by the first fight, then 90 percent by the televised card and — for the main event, Eddie Alvarez v Roger Huerta — every seat seemed to have a body in it. 

The show was a huge success. Aside from the fact that things ran tightly and maintained the professional quality of a national promotion, it was exceptional in the things that are typical of MMA. From Fran Evans passionate debut to Eddie Alvarez’s resounding testimony — one punch from flawless — that he is a top five lightweight in the world, even the arguments brought out by Ben Askren’s ‘Lay and Stay busy’ domination of Lyman Good, it was the type of show that marks people for life with an MMA obsession. 

Before the hammer fists

After the hammer fists

The second billing on this card was a highly anticipated five round bout for the BFC 170-pound title. In a stylistic mashup, two-time NCAA wrestling champ Ben Askren, training out of The Den in Arizona challenged Lyman Good, a Tigar Schulmann’s product from NYC and season one BFC champ (check our interview from that season). Two dominate fighters, both seemingly unstoppable: depending on your bias, Good seemed as likely to overwhelm with strikes as Askren did to get a quick submission or ground and pound. The stand-up/ wrestling dispute was once again settled but predictions of a quick overwhelming finish were way off. 

While this fight lived up to the billing, it had some lulls that took away from the end result. This owes to many factors — not just Askren’s ability to dominate and stall on the ground — which he did — or his trepidation about attempting any finishing move. He admitted in the post fight press conference that he needs work finishing and that he “may punch like a girl” (he only starting hitting things with his hands last year, he explains). But the real problem is the incentive for Askren to apply what I call the ‘Lay and Stay busy’ approach and Good being seemingly unprepared to counter it. More on that latter... 

Scott Coker, Free Gilbert Melendez!

By the time Eddie Alvarez, training out of Fishtown’s Philadelphia Fight Factory, made it to the ring, his fans where frenzied. He is the most recognized Philly fighter and is notorious for having rabid fans- one notch below 1980 European soccer hooliganry. They wear matching uniforms and work themselves into a Orwellian hatred of his opponents. Roger Huerta, who trains with Team Extreme in Texas, may not have enjoyed being the most recognized man in MMA as he walked to the cage carrying a huge verbal bullseye on his back.

The fist pumper

(Press Release)

UFC LIGHTWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP

FRANKIE EDGAR vs. GRAY MAYNARD

CO-MAIN EVENT

SHANE CARWIN vs. ROY NELSON

FEATURED BOUTS

CLAY GUIDA vs. TAKANORI GOMI

CHRIS LEBEN vs. BRIAN STANN

NATE DIAZ vs. DONG HYUN KIM

BRANDON VERA vs. THIAGO SILVA

Live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena